An Echo of Ashes, Excerpt by Ron Allen Ames

An Echo of Ashes is a story lost to time, then found again in century-old letters that lay in a tattered box. Based on actual events taken from the pages, this story tells of when the Great War and the Spanish Influenza forever altered the lives of millions, including a family of subsistence farmers who also worked the oil fields of Pennsylvania.

Ella and Almon make their home in the backcountry. Almon and his sons work in the oil fields, just as their forefathers before them. As war and influenza break out, the parents seek to shield their family from the impending perils.

Earl, the eldest son, is a gifted trombone and piano player. He is captivated by Lucile Lake, a girl from a higher social status. All he has to win her heart are his music and his words as the military draft looms ever closer. Jack, a friend as close as a brother, faces the horrors of war at the Western Front. Albert’s free spirit creates chaos as he searches for direction. Arthur’s patriotism leads him to the Mexican border. Young Russell must suppress his fear to save a life, while Little Clara remains protected from the distress.

World War One and the Spanish Influenza Pandemic are most often documented separately, yet they intersected in 1918. For those who endured sacrifice and loss during this time, the sharp echo of tragedy carried through the ashes of what once was, likely dulled but never vanished from their minds. This is just one of countless stories from such a perilous chapter in American history.

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Excerpt

It was the old recluse, Mr. Regent. The Civil War had taken his leg and much of his soul.

“Looks like the war,” the old man muttered as he lowered his head, turned, and made his way back through the crowd.

The silence broke as a model T ambulance pulled onto the scene, but all the drivers could do was hand burlap sacks to a few volunteers. The grim task of rummaging through the debris, trying to find what little was left of Ralph, was about to begin.

Arthur knelt to rub his still-stinging knee. That is when he noticed a red horse blanket on the ground at the edge of the crater. The cloth looked to be unblemished, an abnormality among the carnage. He picked it up as his mind pondered, If this is what war looks like, then what leaves something escape unscathed? Does destiny choose what is to be spared? Or does fate foretell what is to be destroyed? Do the angels safeguard what is chosen?

Meet Ron Allen Ames

Ron Allen Ames is a history enthusiast who attributes his 46 years of life experience as a hands-on business co-owner, for giving him insight into human nature, a benefit when portraying the lives of others. The information he received, dating from 1914 to 1919, is what prompted Ames to bring this history to light in An Echo of Ashes.

Ames lives with his wife Cathy in Pennsylvania. They have two grown sons.